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| Yo Ho Ho, It's jolly, it's green and by Jove, it's a giant. This latest rendition of the Kawasaki ZRX has obviously been eating its vegetables and had some serious beans added to its already muscular engine. First released in 1998 this bike was seen as a tester for the reintroduction of the "standard" style motorcycle. Kawasaki had obviously been eying the sales success of the Suzuki Bandit and it seemed that the US of A was, indeed, ready for the naked look once again. Well, the sales history of the ELR 2 is one of the Kawasaki success stories, what to do to continue that success? The factory has added a little bracing here and there, warmed over pretty much most of the bike and added a 12 BHP boost to boot. This bike is going head to head with the Bandit, and, of course the Yamaha FZ1. From my talks with the dealers, the big Kwak is holding its own, and here's why. Kawasaki looked at the anvil engine of old and gave it a solid modernization program. They used an all aluminum cylinder block and electroplated each cylinder and drilled (hey, nothing boring in this article) 3mm bigger "holes" for each piston. This beefed up the displacement to 1164cc. The block is now 3.3 lbs skinnier and dissipates heat quicker than a MacDonald's coffee cup. Chuck in a longer stroke too and a heavier flywheel for increased inertia and you get a ridiculous bump up in torque that, when combined some carburetion mod's, offer you a very fast and furious motorcycle. The aforementioned carb modifications? How about a bank of 36 mm Keihin carburetors on ultra short intakes, replete with Kawasaki's K-TRIC digital throttle position sensors. This particular set up gives you lots of go juice. In the right quantities, at the right time. We don't need no steenkin' fuel injection. A trip to the Cycle Riders Dynojet Dyno saw 111.8 gee gee's and a tad over 80lbs of torque. The torque curve shows a nice flat line that doesn't fail to produce in excess of 70 lbs from 3300rpm through to 8300rpm. You did know that's 10lbs more than the Yamaha FZ didn't you? I thought you did... Hey! Pay attention at the back. The ZRX's roll on performance was astounding, I absolutely loved the way you could stomp on this bike regardless of gear selection and at mostly any RPM to get up and going. Overtaking was point and shoot simplicity with absolutely devastating performance for such a large motorcycle, it's really surprising. The gearbox has had a couple of modernizing modifications to aid shifting. It's nothing I had to think about whether riding fast or slow, so it must be working. We took the bike to our "secret" test track and got the chance to ride the bike angry. Once there, we obviously got to ride at higher speeds and providing you didn't give it any sudden inputs (of which it would ignore anyway) handling was acceptable. I was always wary of things getting out of shape though, and in a way only big green things know how. Unfortunately there was a spoiler to this green party. The bike still has a nasty trait left over from last years 1100, namely its soggy-soft front forks. No matter how much preload or compression we dialed in, we just couldn't stop it collapsing under braking with occasional front wheel chatter. Maybe we were riding this bike a little harder than normal, but this is a Sir Edward Lawson replica isn't it? He must have been a brave one too, that Lawson chappy, 'cause I'm pretty sure this modern equivalent of his KZ1000R, handles better today than his factory shed ever did back in the dark old handling days of 82' So, that front really was the only gatecrasher. We wanted to speed up the steering and whilst bumping up the rear preload, we just compounded the problem with the front. To get this bike to steer (relatively quickly) you'll have to give it lots of good old-fashioned body English. Get your bum sliding around that seat and you can hustle the bike around the twisties with aplomb, I wouldn't want to get out of shape though, considering the weight we have under us, but to be honest I didn't come close, cause I always wimped out, especially when the front tire started howling. The twin rear shocks, although looking rather old fashioned or yesteryear, were surprisingly effective too. They offered three way adjustment and with their ramped preload adjusters, and could be set up cruiser soft for one or two up touring style or, if so inclined, wound full on to tip the rear up for better turn in. Retro cool and retro function. The tires fitted to the bike were the Bridgestone 020's. The rear wheel sees a half-inch increase in size to aid in rear drive and grip. I think I would be tempted to upgrade the front tire to an 010. The extra grip might work in your favor considering the collapsible front forks; wear rate should be negligible compared to the stock offering too. When we wanted to stop, we could stop. No dramatics here because the brakes are six piston Tokico's resting on 310 mm floating rotors. Feel was two finger licking good and with adjustable levers, easy to set up for any sized hand. The passenger accommodations were exemplary too. Seating is wide enough to be comfortable and tall enough to give your partner a view of the proceedings, but not so tall as to make her feel exposed or vulnerable. The padding is a little soft for the pilot and chief tester though, and wasn't supportive for very long. Easy to remedy, I'm sure. My only other complaint was the handle bar bend; to me it was canted too far towards the rider and forced your elbows in to match the bend. It felt (to me) that it needed to be a little straighter. That in itself would accomplish two things, first it would let your arms rest in a more comfortable position and secondly it would pull the rider a little more forward. The small fairing was surprisingly effective in keeping my upper torso clean from fly debris by deflecting wind flow up and away from my chest and shoulders. The tank has also been reshaped a little and is described by Kawasaki as tank bag friendly. It's a healthy 5.3 gallon size so with long distances in mind, it's going to be loaded up by the touring faithful. This is a strange bike really, it offers a sensible and comfortable ride to a more "seasoned" rider, yet still has a bonkers side that brings out the rascally kid in me. The bike could be described as dated, yet it still retains that irresistible old school, open class, nasty big bore look. Price is $500 more than the Suzuki Bandit, and quite rightly, offers more in both power and sophistication. It's also $600 less than the up to the minute Yamaha FZ1, which is the price of some half decent luggage and a long weekend away with the bike and wife; Your call. In the end it doesn't matter whether you call it a naked bike, a standard or even a UJM (universal Japanese Motorcycle). It's quite definitely a JGG, a Jolly Green Giant. For the money and amenities enjoyed, jolly it most definitely is. |